A court in Gujarat's Kutch district issued an arrest warrant against journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta yesterday in connection with a defamation case filed by the Adani Group, PTI reported.
In an order, judicial magistrate Pradeep Soni said that Thakurta was charged under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code. He directed the Nizamuddin police station in New Delhi to "arrest the said accused and to produce him before me".
Thakurta's lawyer Anand Yagnik told PTI: "We haven't received any intimation. This information has come to us from media."
The Adani Group had served the defamation notice in 2017, when Thakurta was the editor of the Economic and Political Weekly. In June 2017, the magazine had printed a story by Thakurta on how the government tweaked rules for special economic zones which led to the Adani Group reaping a profit of Rs 500 crore.
EPW took down the article following the notice. Thakurta resigned after the board of the Sameeksha Trust, which runs the magazine, ordered that the story be taken down. The story was republished by the Wire, with EPW's permission.
Thakurta's lawyer told PTI: "The magazine is not responsible [for criminal defamation], the case against co-author has been withdrawn, but you don't withdraw the complaint against the author. We have moved a discharge application."
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